Sectionally-folding door.



No. 781,665. PATENTED'FEB. 7, 1905. G. F. KUSCH.

SEGTIONALLY FOLDING DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24. 1904. n 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED PEB. 7, 1905.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L 5. o@ `f 5 6 D 5 6 m W.

PATENTED FEB. '7, 1905.

G. F. KUSCH.

SEGTIONALLY FOLDING DOOR.

APPLIOATION FILED .TUNE 24. 1804.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@SNS m operated.

UNITED STATES CHARLES Patented February 7, 1905.

PATENT- OFFICE.

VOSS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SECTlONALLY-FOLDING DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,665, dated February'7, 1905.

Application filed June-24,1904. Serial No. 213,964.

To 11,17, whom, it 7mm/f conc/.irra- Be it known that I, CHARLES F.KUsoH, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, inthe countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Sectionally-Folding Doors; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip-l tion ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in sectionally-folding. doors,and more particularly to a door adapted to expose large openings.

Heretofore in warehouses and other buildings requiring a wide or highdoor-opening it has been necessary, except in ordinary sliding doors, toleave considerable clear floor-space in front of the door to'enable thesame to be In many situations ordinary horizontally-sliding doors cannotbe used conveniently, inasmuch as no space to receive the doors whenopen can be provided. In such instances vertically sliding doors arefrequently used. Here again the room height Vmay be such as to preventthe successful use of such doors.

.It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a sectionalsliding door comprising a plurality of relatively narrow sectionsarranged to fold into small space at one side or at the top of thedoor-opening, asV preferred, and provided with means to cause the sameto fold automatically at a given point in the travel or slide of thesame.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a construction in whichfreight or other articles may be piled close to the door withoutinterfering with the operation of the door and in which the parts are soconstructed and assembled as to afford a very simple construction ofgreat strength and durability and affording an eiiicient closure for thedoor-openlng.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and morefully pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying myinvention, illustrating a horizontally-sliding door. Fig. 2 is anenlarged vertical section illustrating the means for supporting thedoors. Fig. 3 is a similar face view of one of the hangers and the tracktherefor. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail in horizontal sectionillustrating aconvenient construction of the door; Fig. 5 is aslightly-modified face view of a horizontallysliding door. Fig. 6 is aperspective view of a'vertically-sliding and folding door. Fig. 7 1s asection taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig.

8 is a section-on line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

As shown in said drawings, referring first to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, awide doorway, such as is common in elevators, warehouses,

vand the like, as shown, closed by asliding laterally-folding doorcomprising a plurality of narrow sections A and A of any suitablematerial and which, as shown, is adapted to slide into a very smallspace at one or both ends of the door-opening. Said door is supportedupon a horizontal track B, located above the door-opening and projectingoutwardly above a channel or other suitable track in the floor. Saiddoor-sections are hinged together along their length,. alternatesections being' hinged to fold outwardly and inwardly, respectively, asshown in Fig. I, and, as shown, hangers are provided at alternate jointsin said door adapted to support the door upon said track B and inengagement with the channel or other lower track Said hangers in theconstruction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 each comprise a rod or barC, bent at its upper end to hook over the track I3 and having journaledin the hooked upper end thereof a roller c, which engages on said track.A bracket c2 is secured on said hanger and extends parallel with thetrack and is provided on each end with a roller c,\vhich bears againstthe outer face of the track. and coacts with a corresponding roller U4,carried on the downturned upper end of said hanger which engages behindsaid track, as shown in Fig. 2. Said hanger C serves as a pintle for thehinge between adjacent door-sections, and as shown, passes through theintertitting knucdoor-sections are hinged to enable said edges 4 toswing inwardly, as shown in Fig. l, and a striking plate or bar D isrigidly secured at the upper end of one of -said sections adjacent saidinwardly-swinging joints and projects above the same in position toengage the guide (I, which comprises a strap or bar of metal or othersuitable material bent to afford an inwardly and rearwardly directedbracket which projects into the path of said striking-bars D and actsto'start the inward movement of the hinged edges of the door-sectionsintermediate the hangers. Means are provided for operating said doors,however great the horizontal width of the door-opening, from a singlesource of power. For this purpose an endless cable Eis trained about asheave f, secured at one side the' door-opening and above the same andabout friction-rollers or sheaves l", 2 and extends downwardly andistrained about the drum of a winch e3, thus affording an endlessbelt-which is connected with the hanger for said door-section A' mostremote from the winch, so that when it is desired to open the doorsrotation of the crank or-winch acts to draw the door-sections along thetrack B and the track b at the bottom of the same.

As the' striking plates or bars D engage av tracks in said channel asbefore described.

door-section, as shown in Fig. 6, whichis so connected therewith as toadmit of the joints formed by the hinge connection with thenext adjacentsection to swing outwardly, as shown in the drawings. The door-sectionsare hinged together, as before described, on alternate 4sides of thedoor, and at every alternate joint the pintle of the hinge is providedat its outer ends with a roller e2, which tracks in said channels ateach side the door and serve to hold the joints of alternate sections inalinement with the plane of the door, while the 55 sections themselvesare adapted to swing outwardly and fold as before described.Strikling-plates D' are provided on the meeting f2, which when the dooris released at the bottom aid in elevating and folding the sections ofthe door, exposing the entire dooropening.

The operation is as follows: With either construction described movementof the door toward its folding position acts to successively Pfold saidsections, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the striking-plates starting thefold by Sliding outwardly over the guides Z and d4, Whilein the oneinstance the winch and inthe other gravity acts to continue the upwardfolding operation until the entire door-opening has been exposed or somuch thereof as may be required.

Obviously from this construction the door maybe made of any width orlength and may be quickly opened to its entire extent by the' dev icedescribed. Furthermore, said sections maybe of any desired width, andwhen the door is opened are folded in exceedingly small space, leavingthe fioor clear.

Obviously1 the hingesmay be of any desired type and the hangers mayassume other forms than herein described and various means for applyingforce to thev door for opening the same may be used and many details ofconstruction may be ,varied Without departing from the principle of myinvention.

I claim as my invention-' 1 A door comprising u pper and lower ways, aplurality of sections hinged to fold oppositely, a pintle forming a partof the hinge for said sections, a roller on the upper end thereofadapted to track on the inner side of the upper way and means adapted tohold said pintle from turning. I

2. A door comprising upper and ,lower tracks, a plurality ofdoor-sections'hinged together to fold oppositely, a roller at alternatejoints adapted to engage the lower track, a pintle forming part of thehinge at said joints and extending above the door-sections, rollersthereon adapted to track on the top and inner side of the upper trackand means engaging the track laterally of said pintle acting to hold thesame in operative position.

3. A door comprising a plurality of oppositely-folding sections, upperand lower tracks therefor, a pintle at opposite joints, a roller on thelower end of said pintle adapted to engage the lower track, a hookedupper end on ICO said pintle, a roller journaled thereon adapted toengage the upper track, alaterally-directed arm on said pintle androllers thereon adapted toengage said track laterally of the pintle.

4. A folding door comprising relatively narrow sections hinged at theiredges and adapted to fold oppositely, oppositely-disposed Ways at thedoor-opening, means at alternate hinged joints of the door engaging insaid Ways and acting to confine the sections from movement except alongthe ways, an upwardly-directed striking-plate at intermediate hingedjoints, an outwardly-directed angular guide projecting into the pathofsaid striking-plate and adapted to force the same outwardly andoperating means acting to move said door toits open and closed position.v

5. The combination with a track above and below a door-opening and adoor therefor comprising laterally-slidable mutually-hinged narrowsections supported at alternate joints on said tracks, of astriking-plate secured on said door at alternate joints, a guide securedabove the door-opening and acting to force the striking-plates outwardlystarting the fold,`

and a cable and winch acting to move said door to its open and to itsclosed position.

6. In a device of the class described the combination with a pluralityof oppositely-fold ing door-sections, a hanger pivotally engaged in thehinges ot' alternate joints, an inturned end thereon, a roller journaledin said end and a roller carried at each side thereof adapted to engagethe track and prevent said hanger from turning.

7. A sectional door comprising a plurali'tf)r of oppositely-hingedsections, a track above and below the same, guide-pulleys carried onalternate joints on the door, engaging the tracks, striking-plates onthe joints intermediate those provided with guide-pulleys acting tostart the fold and a winch acting to move said door to its open or toits closed position.

8. In a device of the class described the cornbination with a pluralityof ways, of aplurality of door-sections, a pintle forming a part of thehinge for alternate sections and projecting above and below the saine,ahooked upper end on said pintle, a roller journaled therein and aroller on the end of said hook adapted to engage on the inner side ofone of said ways.

ln'test-imony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscri bing witnesses.

CHARLES F. KUSOH. Witnesses:

W. W. WITHENBURY, HJALMAR S. RUDD.

